We Own
Partnership Experience
We serve others
We make everyone feel special
We care passionately about everything we do
We connect and build long lasting relationships
We celebrate teamwork
We find the smallest things can make the biggest difference
We Lead
and Inspire
We are excited by our vision
We share our enthusiasm and passion
We come up with new ways to stay at the forefront
We build relationships based on trust
We develop team spirit and a sense of community
We Take Responsibility
And Deliver
We see things through
We focus on solutions
We take ownership for the outcome of our actions
We work as one family
We consider the impact on the environment and community
We Show
Respect
We are always considerate of the impact our actions have on others
We show appreciation
We are welcoming to everyone
We invest time in people
We give and seek feedback openly
We Share
Our Knowledge
We are transparent
We embrace discovery and creativity
We learn from each other
We are happy to help each other
We support others to be successful
MEET
THE
TEAM
OUR COMMUNITY
We serve others
We make everyone feel special
We care passionately about everything we do
We connect and build long lasting relationships
We celebrate teamwork
We are Awaken Genius
DIRECTORS
Michael ClarkE
Founder and CEO
Michael has worked in mainstream education with KS3 and KS4 children in a pastoral remit for over 14 years. As a Pupil Achievement Leader, he was a senior support figure and worked with heads of year and form tutors, which involved analysing students' progress and putting appropriate interventions in place. Michael has worked with and supported countless families to support their children in school.
Ever since Michael's friends, brother and one of his students were murdered outside the school where Michael worked, he promised to be a lifelong learner, who would aim to unlock the potential of the children that he came into contact with during his teaching, particularly the most labelled and vulnerable pupils.
Michael felt burdened with this desire to unlock their potential. His friend and colleague would always say, “You cannot save them all.” However, in his mind he believed there must be another way to support children who are considered disadvantaged.
Michael always saw the potential in the pupils he worked with. When staff saw a disruptive 'chatterbox', he saw a potential public speaker or orator; when staff saw a 'cocky pupil', he saw a confident pupil and a potential leader; when staff saw a fight between two pupils, he saw a warrior and potential boxer. Michael believes It's how you perceive pupils’ behaviours. Their 'undesirable' behaviours could be turned into their gifts or talents.
Nicholas LARBI
FINANCE COORDINATOR
I am currently employed as a Large Corporate Onboarding Manager at HSBC.
Alternative education is necessary because the way to progress as a society is educating our young people to be great. Unfortunately, the current education system is broken and does not achieve this.
We cannot be teaching the children that they/we are all unique if we are taught and judged the same way as everyone else.
The education system is currently teaching our young people how to conform rather than teaching them how to make the world a better place and this needs to change
BOARD MEMBERS
Dr Keith Davidson
Advisory
Dr Keith Davidson has 37 years of experience in the field of education. He has been a secondary school subject teacher, school bursar, headteacher, ofsted inspector, education director, education consultant, conference speaker and is the author of the book entitled ‘The successful teacher’ (1998) and joint author with Dr June Alexis of two books entitled ‘Education; A pathway to success for black children’ (2012) and ‘The Power of the Mind: A new perspective on intellect and intelligence’.
Dr Davidson is also the recipient of The Voice Newspaper Educator of the Decade Award in 1992 and The DfES School Governor of the Year Award in 2006 (London Region)
Dr Davidson offers his ongoing support for the education charity, Awaken Genius. He finds their educational goals to be capable of transforming the holistic development of students.
Awaken Genius’ methods for children’s learning are innovative, motivating and uniquely focused on arousing their latent potential to achieve excellence through their lives.
Dr June M Alexis
ADVISORY
During my teaching profession, I have been an Inter School Examination Assessor for English and English Literature, an English and English Literature Examiner and Teacher Appraiser, delivering INSET Programmes for maintaining schools, academies and private schools.I am a former Ofsted inspector for secondary schools and I have carried out a number of school inspections. My Ofsted specialisms are in English, Pastoral Care, Leadership and Management. I am also trained to inspect the following subjects: English Literature, Drama, Media Studies and Theatre Studies. My first degree was a Bachelor of Education Honours Degree. I have a Master of Arts Degree in Educational Management and Administration as well as a Doctorate in Education.
In addition to this, I have worked in the capacity as professional and subject mentor for teachers on the following national programmes for the award of the Qualified Teacher Status (QTS): Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE); Graduate Teacher Training Programme (GTTP); Teach First (TF) and Overseas Trained Teachers (OTT).
Currently, I present a variety of educational programmes in schools as well as in the community for parents, teachers and the wider community. In addition, I work with parents, pupils and schools to give guidance to pupils who are at risk of being permanently excluded. In addition, I have given advice and support to pupils, who have problems with their university courses. Also, when they have been informed that they will have to terminate their degree studies, I successfully had them reinstated.
I have also co-authored two books: ‘Education: A pathway to success for Black Children’, and ‘The Power of the Mind: A new perspective on intellect and intelligence’.
Nathan John-Baptiste
ADVISORY
Growing up as a child I was very much labelled as the troublesome one, yet I knew deep down that was never the true case, now that I'm older I realise I was a product of my environment as there were certain troublesome circumstances I had to face alone.
As I grew older however I started to believe in myself a lot more, the ambition to achieve my idea of success at that time grew even stronger, as I realised if I didn’t believe in myself then who else would?
That self-belief then led me to creating and growing businesses whilst still being in school. A certain business of mine attracted attention from the media and from that happening many doors opened for me.
Young people need nurturing, they need guidance and they need a platform that makes them realise they’re in their own lane. Individuality is what makes each person unique and standardised learning doesn’t highlight that, it doesn’t tailor to young people’s individuality and for someone that knew I had something special, a gift from God I now realise, that standardised learning made me rebel against the school system because I knew I didn’t have a standard mind. I Awakened my Genius from early and made my own plan as to what I was going to do with my life.
Even though it worked out in the end for me, what about those students who leave school early and don’t know or don’t think that they have greatness within them? That’s why I believe iin and am a part of Awaken Genius.
CURRICULUM TEAM
Colin Smith
curriculum advisor
I first went into teaching to put right the wrongs a heavily streamed based education did to me. It told me I was not good enough to do ‘O’ Levels, so I paid for them privately myself, and proved the system wrong!
Thirty years on I still pride myself in being a classroom practitioner who believes that the curriculum must bend and adapt to the learning needs of pupils and not the other way around.
Too many pupils are told that their prior knowledge and experiences: their cultural and linguistic capital, is not relevant to the neo-liberal idea of what is classed as knowledge and achievement.
I believe in learning that is rooted in the interests, experiences and aspirations of young people and does not force feed them a diet of more of the same if they are rejected by the mainstream.
I passionately believe everybody has a desire to enhance themselves – it is part of the human condition – we just need to connect with and nurture that seed in an inspiring, empathetic and engaging way.
Debbie (Ama) Obeng - Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Trainer
Debbie - Ama, is a trainee Physician Associate with extensive experience working with LAC and young people in gangs and / or at-risk of county lines and violence. She is very passionate about supporting young people, especially those who have been classified as ‘hard to reach’, who are often disempowered, disengaged and from disadvantaged backgrounds. Much of her work is focused on helping young people and young adults achieve their full potential, increasing positive aspirations and mental health wellbeing.
Throughout her mentoring and coaching career, she found a strong association between 'distorted aspirations' and the detrimental impacts it has on steering knife crime, county lines, employability and educational engagement instability, uncontrolled levels of mental illness with prevalent suicide rates.
It is with this in mind why she feels Awaken Genius is a vital. A primary to secondary school intervention set out to improve mental health and positive aspirations, by delivering an academic nurture curriculum that is inclusive and therapeutic based on a sense of a ‘community’.
Vicki George
Academic-Creative Art facilitator
Vicki believes with her professional background in both teaching and performing she could make an immediate, positive contribution towards the curriculum and teaching. She offers a combination of unique skills and competencies which she has developed through a lengthy and rewarding career. As a primary class teacher, she has always interwoven the creative arts into her lessons contributing to not only excellent academic results but also increasing engagement, enjoyment and a sense of comradery among my pupils.
Vicki’s professional Performing Arts background offers her access to a range of creative and innovative techniques which build pupil confidence, foster effective communication and most importantly reignite a love of learning. She offers strong communication skills, excellent knowledge of the National Curriculum and SATs paper requirements.
Vicki was attracted to Awaken Genius because of the clear vision, passion, kindness and energy of those who form the community. She believes that now (more than ever) we must fully invest in our young people as we begin to repair the damage caused by the pandemic. Mental health concerns, bereavement, isolation, loss of confidence in academic ability and social anxiety are affecting people more than ever. And she truly believes Awaken Genius has the potential to create effective and long-lasting change for the most vulnerable in society, our children.
Vicki is a new mother herself, and feels very strongly that no child should be given up on or left behind and she is excited to see the impact of Awaken Genius on children who may otherwise fall through the net at this critical time in their lives.
CREATIVE MEDIA TEAM
Arminda Borges
VISUAL DESIGNER
I am a thinker, a visual communicator with a degree in Graphic Design and Digital.
I believe when students are able to use imagination and critical thinking to create new and meaningful forms of ideas where they can take risks, be independent and flexible. Instead of being taught to reiterate what was learned, students learn to develop their ability to find various solutions to a problem.
I am very passionate about education because it shapes our next generational leaders.
We need to teach the next generation to be thinkers and develop their ability to find their talents and gifts by awakening their genius.
However, I am concerned over the education which young people receive and their lack of motivation to be independent learners.
We need change to tackle news problems in the future that is way I believe in
an ever-changing world and workforce, I believe an alternative education like AG is necessary to develop pupils’ creativity and 'soft' skills that mainstream schools do not develop in addition to academic skills; enabling pupils to be motivated to be the best version of themselves.
Neil Barton
Director of Education
As a teacher specialising in supporting pupils with extreme social, emotional and behavioural and complex medical issues, I feel I am well-placed to state that the timing could not be more perfect for the pedagogy and philosophy of Awaken Genius to burst into our primary school classrooms!
Over the past 15 years, my work and studies have afforded me the privilege of teaching and supporting some of the most diverse, ‘at-risk’, and vulnerable pupils and families in our community during incredibly difficult times. I passionately believe that every child, without exception, deserves the gift of being able to enjoy learning for the rest of their lives, and that is our ultimate vision at Awaken Genius.
Enough is enough! Despite decades of promises from the government, the achievement gap has continued to widen at an ever-increasing rate and the prevalence of Adverse Childhood Experiences is at an all-time high.
As I write this, Awaken Genius is still a fledgling organisation that has currently been into just a handful of schools. However, the feedback on its impact has been palpable. Furthermore, the pupil and staff responses have been amazing, and I believe we are on the right path towards creating a vital educational experience for our children; demonstrably at a time when it is most desperately needed.
Dr Iheanyi Kwachuku
Director
My Name is Dr Iheanyi Nwachuku I work in Southampton as a Local GP.
I was born in North London to Nigerian parents. I have 3 brothers and a sister.
I really enjoyed school and always wanted to do something involving science and connecting with people.
IIt’s important that our most vulnerable children feel a sense of belonging and safety.
A community-based curriculum will certainly guarantee this. In addition, our children need to be taught in ways that are more suitable for them.
All children deserve to have a good education and should really enjoy it. The human connection and enjoyment of learning is the focus of Awaken Genius, which I fully support.
Luke Ireland
Junior Law Partner
Hi, my name is Luke Ireland, and I am a Junior Law Partner with Awaken Genius.
I have seen first-hand the effect that disenfranchisement can have on students.
At my school, the children who were most vulnerable and needed support were
sent to a completely separate isolation building on the other side of our town.
This is not only morally wrong, but simply ineffective.
Too often we have seen schools adopt ‘containment’ measures which only serve to polarise children and create a divide between those who are deemed ‘smart’ and those who are deemed ‘bad’. In reality, every child wants to learn, every child wants an opportunity to be successful.
Awaken Genius offers a chance to put this into action. It has been proven that a community-based approach can help ensure that the most vulnerable children are successful. Education is wider than just knowledge and is crucial to understanding broader issues such as common humanity and citizenship. A community-based approach places emphasis on this and ensures that instead of polarising children, we engage them and help them attain knowledge as well as people skills. Together we can make a difference and I hope that we can work together for a brighter future.
Jagwinder Kaur
ADVISOR
Jagwinder is a solicitor specialising in Employment Law. Jagwinder invests time in diversity and inclusion initiatives in her workplace, as she is one of her firm’s representatives for the UK's first inter-firm diversity network, NOTICED. She also mentors students as part of her firm’s mentoring programmes.
Having mentored several young people in the last 10 years and working with government initiatives such as NCS The Challenge, Jagwinder realised that the current system is broken and that intervention in the earlier stages of a child’s education (pre-secondary school) is crucial to keeping them engaged in the system.
Jagwinder has joined Awaken Genius because she believes that society is failing children with special educational needs. Far too many children are cast off for being disruptive, when actually they just need more support. That is why Jagwinder wholeheartedly supports Awaken Genius’ mission to create a safe place where children feel secure and listened to, as by doing so they will thrive.
Joanna Oliver
ADVISOR
A mum to three children, Joanna Oliver has a diverse professional background, including within universities, charities, social care and therapeutic communities.
Having left school aged fifteen and qualifying as a Youth Worker, Joanna is committed to helping people to grow and flourish. Earning a degree in Advertising, Media and Marketing, a Masters in Therapeutic Child Care, a Masters in Education and a Post Graduate qualification in Professional Supervision, much of Joanna’s work has involved empowerment, enablement and promoting agency, motivating her interest in Awaken Genius.
Joanna’s academic career led to giving talks at conferences in universities, including Milan, Padua, Thessaloniki, Seville and the UK, a doctoral study related to collaborative working between statutory and independent sectors and a second doctoral study, currently in progress, related to experiences of black young men who are autistic within the criminal justice system. In her various roles, Joanna undertakes ghost-writing, proof reading and editing e-books, blogs, press releases, webcopy and chapter books and has delivered training, professional supervision and mentoring, mainly related to personal/professional growth and development.
As a funding bid writer for the last 12 years, Joanna developed Bids ‘n’ Pieces, positioning her well as bid writer for Awaken Genius.
Olusola Adebiyi
Academic-Creative art Facilitator
Olusola Adebiyi AKA Sola Story is a Creative Facilitator and Performance Storyteller with an international profile. He is a Programme Director, Creative Group facilitator, Mentor, Community Educator and Author, as well as developer of Awakening Creative Genius,
a youth and adult development programme.
He is the founder and director of storytelling company Narrative Mindfulness Ltd and
co-founder of Rebirth of The Griot, a monthly African Storytelling and Spoken
Word showcase. .
His mission involves a strong youth development and advocacy focus aimed at inspiring young people to grow into a deeper transformational knowledge of themselves and to have agency as a reciprocal part of a responsive community. He has designed,
co-designed and facilitated many group experiential learning programmes, usually involving arts, creativity and often wilderness practices. In his practice of working with children in schools in London, nationally and internationally, he draws upon techniques such as mindfulness, breath work (from martial arts), diverse creative arts, , singing and drumming. His approach resonates perfectly with that of Awaken Genius and the possibility of impacting young people positively becomes exponentially greater when collaborating with people who have similar aims and supporting skill sets. The potential for youth development in Awaken Genius is limitless.
This underlines the reason why he is so interested in Awaken Genius, as he sees the limitless potential of the organisation.
Amy Davis
curriculum writer
Amy Davis is a curriculum writer and Year 4 teacher. Passionate about education, she has spent 11 years teaching in both mainstream and special educational primary settings. Experience has given her a deep understanding of how children learn, allowing her to create engaging lesson content that makes education fun and accessible for all.
Working in Belfast, London and Barcelona has given Amy opportunities to teach children from a variety of cultures; however, she has been disappointed to see the system failing some children precisely because of their diverse needs and backgrounds, when they should have been celebrated and nurtured. This has fostered a fervent desire to see that all children's needs must be met and that no child should be disadvantaged.
Like the rest of the Awaken Genius team, Amy believes that all children have untapped potential. She is excited to help bring out their unique gifts by helping to develop our innovative curriculum. Amy is certain that, as a community, we can help children become creative and confident thinkers who believe in themselves, and who can work together as agents of change to build a better future. Every child matters—so let's help them see their own worth!
Salma Margerison
Curriculum Writer
Salma Margerison is a UK qualified Primary school teacher, who creates inclusive and engaging lessons for students of all ages through her company Nurture Thinkers. Her role at Awaken Genius is as a Curriculum Writer, developing lessons that will nurture and release potential.
She has worked in a variety of schools and, no matter the setting, budget or resources available, one thing always stands out...education is still not equitable! There are groups of children being let down by the education system and this leads to many detrimental effects. Her belief is that every child deserves the chance to thrive, be creative, show their individuality and, most importantly, to feel safe at school.
When Salma connected with Awaken Genius it was clear that they held these same beliefs and passions. Their alternative approach is refreshing and she believes it is a catalyst for real change.
Remember every child wants to be successful, so let us give life to learning and Awaken Genius in children.
Dr. Nicola Abbott
PUPIL DATA PROGRAMME ANALYSIS
Dr. Nicola Abbott is a Developmental Social Psychologist based at the Institute of Education, UCL. In her research, she is interested in tackling school bullying.
Dr. Nicola thinks that a particularly effective anti-bullying strategy is to help empower young people to intervene when they witness bullying; it was this same focus on empowerment that drew her to Awaken Genius. She liked that their school workshops take an active approach to building a sense of community and belonging. She thinks
this is important for all school pupils, but particularly pupils who are minoritized.
Dr. Nicola hosted an Awaken Genius event at her workplace and found the energy that Michael and his team brought was infectious! She looks forward to collaborating with Awaken Genius and seeing that energy brought into more-and-more schools.
Mission Statement
The world's most precious natural resource is children. At Awaken Genius the word education will take on it's original meaning (from the Latin educere) to bring out what is already within.
Awaken Genius believes the emerging world must leverage our most vulnerable children’s untapped potential and innate capacities to learn and awaken their unique talents and gifts. Once awakened these children will become agents of change.
Giving Life
to Learning
Awaken Genius is a CIC (Community Interest Company) that offers an alternative learning method for mixed ability pupils that do not learn the way the mainstream schools expect.
The founder and Awaken Genius (AG) community are education professionals with vast knowledge and experience of the educational system, with insight into why some pupils are unable to thrive within the mainstream school environment.
As a result of extensive observation in mainstream school settings as well as researching education in various global communities, we are able to provide a much needed service for pupils and their parents.
Who We Are
OUR VISION - OUR PURPOSE - OUR VALUES
UBUNTU - I AM BECAUSE WE ARE
Let me tell you a story…
An anthropologist had been studying the habits and culture of a remote African tribe.
He had been working in the village for quite some time and the day before he was to return home, he put together a gift basket filled with delicious fruits from around the region and wrapped it in a ribbon. He placed the basket under a tree and then he gathered up the children in the village.
The man drew a line in the dirt, looked at the children, and said, “When I tell you to start, run to the tree and whoever gets there first will win the basket of the fruit.”
When he told them to run, they all took each other’s hands and ran together to the tree. Then they sat together around the basket and enjoyed their treat as a group.
The anthropologist was shocked. He asked why they would all go together when one of them could have won all the fruits for themselves?
A young girl looked up at him and said, "Ubuntu, how can one of us be happy if all the other ones are sad?”
Community in Education
At AG we believe in "holding hands." Partnering with children and their parents to bring the spirit of Ubuntu into classroom communities.
We don’t need to tell you how different and potentially challenging the primary to secondary school transition will be this year amidst the upheaval of the Coronavirus (COVID -19) pandemic. Research suggests that the pandemic has particularly affected our vulnerable community children and families. Children will be back in entirely different circumstances.
Smaller ‘class’ sizes, returning with less, or no, other children within the school and likely, no opportunity to visit their new school or meet the staff they’ll be working with.
With so much disruption for our Year 5 pupils, we need to ensure that we are offering them support in the best way possible; this is especially important as, with the ‘bubbles’, there are going to be children with a new teacher who don’t get to spend time with their normal class teacher and this may have further negative impact on top of what they’ve experienced so far. However, it's important to note vulnerable children's anxiety may manifest in various ways.
Awaken Genius delivers it's programmes by partnering with primary schools to support them with vulnerable children returning back to school from COVID - 19 and the primary secondary school transition.
Our mission is to make learning fun by weaving or incorporating the creative arts: storytelling, theatre, visual arts, music, and movement; as well as collaborative peer and teacher learning into numeracy and literacy classroom communities.
In addition, we aim to reduce mainstream school exclusion and promote mental wellbeing in children by creating an intrinsically motivated learning environment and a sense of purpose, identity and belonging, and learning autonomy. As well as addressing emotional and anger management issues affecting pupils' progress, development and attainment. We achieve this by making learning engaging and meaningful; we also focus on pupils' well-being, in order to empower, nurture and inspire them to realise their potential and become lifelong learners.
Also, offering a holistic approach towards empowering young people by providing parental training in order to share communal methods and approaches towards learning
AG specialise in the primary to secondary school transition.